Portable computing systems, such as laptops and mobile phones, run a variety of applications. The different applications utilized different amounts of computing resources to perform various operations. Because some applications require more resources, running those applications often requires more power consumption. However, as designers of portable computing systems have tried to develop lighter or more streamlined versions of such devices with reduced power consumption, some devices are not capable of executing some applications that require more power or cannot run such applications on certain devices or run them fully as running these applications increases power consumption and depletes power resources (e.g., batteries) too quickly for a user. Thus, it would be desirable to be able to provide additional power resources at times to allow such devices to execute such applications.
Docking stations are well known in the art to provide an easy way for a computing device such as a laptop computer to connect to peripheral devices. By simply plugging the computing device into the docking station, the computing device is able to access the peripheral devices.
The use of docking stations is not limited to connecting to peripheral devices. Docking stations have been used to increase performance of a computing device because the docking station provides some functionality to facilitate the higher performance. For example, some docking stations for laptops provide thermal functionality such that when a computing system is plugged into the docking station, the docking station blows air on the laptop to provide additional cooling for higher performance when the laptop is used on a desk. Additional graphics or storage has been including in docking stations to enhance functionality as well.